H&M or Century Sofa?

We are considering one of these 2 sofas in fabric and would like any information or experience about the differences in construction and quality.

Century Culpepper Sofa LTD5221-2. from their “Home Elegance Collection”

Hancock and Moore Marla Sofa 6579-3

Would be grateful for any help in our decision making. Thanks.

Both are premium brands and construction. My suggestion is to get the style you like the most, or size, or cover.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Both are premium brands and construction. My suggestion is to get the style you like the most, or size, or cover.

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Thanks for your reply! I take it to mean that Century uses a solid hardwood frame like H&M. (I was concerned Century's frame might be plywood.)
This is very helpful, thanks again.

I think H&M is also using CNC & plywood since early 2019: http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...t=factory+2019

The Century piece is and LTD series (Cornerstone) which means a combination of plywoods and solids. Only Century "Signature" line is solid maple / ash.

That's a new sofa for H&M and it could be either one. I would have to make some calls to find out.

There is no question Hancock and Moore is moving to the Russian Birch Plywood they use for their newer designs along with everyone else in the industry. The cost savings is significant and that allows them to reduce the price. When I was at the factory in June I also went to the frame plant where they make the solid maple/ash pieces. It's far, far slower labor-wise that the giant CNC machine cutting out the parts with the plywood. Another problem is all the men in the frame shop are in their 50's and 60's and there is not much labor pool to replace them as they age out. I think I saw only one worker there that would have been under 40 years old. As it was explained to me during my tour, the plywood they use is quite expensive and less prone to broken frames as there is not stress faults in the wood as there is with solid hardwood. The real key too, is how you join it together. You can see a pictorial on my trip to the factory under LEATHER in this forum.

What I see happening is the old designs will continue to be solid wood frames, and the newer ones that are fully upholstered (no exposed wood except for the legs) will probably be made of the Russian Plywood. They are going to put in a second CNC machine to supplement the first one, so that's the way they are headed. However I'd not be too concerned - we don't see frame failures in either category and they all have lifetime warranties on the frames.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by drcollie

The Century piece is and LTD series (Cornerstone) which means a combination of plywoods and solids. Only Century "Signature" line is solid maple / ash.

That's a new sofa for H&M and it could be either one. I would have to make some calls to find out.

There is no question Hancock and Moore is moving to the Russian Birch Plywood they use for their newer designs along with everyone else in the industry. The cost savings is significant and that allows them to reduce the price. When I was at the factory in June I also went to the frame plant where they make the solid maple/ash pieces. It's far, far slower labor-wise that the giant CNC machine cutting out the parts with the plywood. Another problem is all the men in the frame shop are in their 50's and 60's and there is not much labor pool to replace them as they age out. I think I saw only one worker there that would have been under 40 years old. As it was explained to me during my tour, the plywood they use is quite expensive and less prone to broken frames as there is not stress faults in the wood as there is with solid hardwood. The real key too, is how you join it together. You can see a pictorial on my trip to the factory under LEATHER in this forum.

What I see happening is the old designs will continue to be solid wood frames, and the newer ones that are fully upholstered (no exposed wood except for the legs) will probably be made of the Russian Plywood. They are going to put in a second CNC machine to supplement the first one, so that's the way they are headed. However I'd not be too concerned - we don't see frame failures in either category and they all have lifetime warranties on the frames.

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Thanks for this info and thank you EastBayGuy for your comment as well. I enjoyed the pictorial of the factory trip! I'm always fascinated with how things are made.